Crew Reviews, Ratings & Info for Grosse-Freiheit

In the early hours of March 19, 2016, a significant maritime incident occurred on the Kiel Canal when the cargo vessel 'Paula Anna' collided with the container feeder 'Empire' near Breiholz, just west of Rendsburg. The 'Empire', which was en route from Bremerhaven to Gdansk, had been halted the previous night at 11:30 PM awaiting the passage of 'Paula Anna', which was navigating from Pörnu to St. Nazaire. As thick fog enveloped the area, the 'Paula Anna' struck the bow of the 'Empire' under yet-to-be-determined circumstances. Despite sustaining substantial damage, 'Paula Anna' managed to proceed towards Brunsbüttel, arriving at 5 AM. On the other hand, 'Empire', having sustained only minor damage to its starboard foreship, docked at Voithkai in Kiel for further inspections and was given clearance to resume its voyage at 11:30 AM. 'Paula Anna', despite damage to its accommodation block, set sail again at around 5 PM. For those interested in further details, German reports with accompanying photographs can be found at the following links: http://forum-schiff.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=23&p=124264#p124264 and http://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/Kollision-zwischen-Frachtschiffen-auf-NOK-,kollision188.html.